高中课文 高中英语必修6.doc

Unit 1 Art Reading A SHORT HISTORY OF WESTERN PAINTING The style of Western art has changed many times,while Chines art has changed less often.Art is influenced by the way of life and beliefs of the people,and China,unlike Europe,has followed a similar way of life for a very long time.There are so many different styles of Western art that it would be impossible to describe all of them in a short text.Consequently,this text will describe only a few of the main styles,starting from the 5th century AD. The Middle Ages (5th to 15th century AD) During the Middle Ages,the main aim of painters was to represent religious themes,Artists were not interested in showing nature and people as they really were.Instead,they were interested in creating respect and love for God,and paintings from this period are full of religious symbols.Things had begun to change by the 13th century when painters like Giotto di Bondone began to paint religious scenes in a more realistic style. The Renaissance(15th 16th century) In the Renaissance,new ideas and values took the place of those that were held in the Middle Ages.people became focused more on humans and less on religion.Painters returned to classical Roman and Greek ideas about art.They tried to paint people and nature as they really were.Rich people wanted to collect art for their palaces and great houses.They paid famous artists to paint pictures of themselves,their houses and other possessions,as well as their activities and achievements. One of the most important discoveries during this period was how to draw things in perspective.The first person to use perspective in his paintings was Masaccio in 1428.When people first saw his paintings they were convinced they were looking through a hole in the wall at a real scene.If the rules of perspective had not been discovered,people would not have been able to paint such realistic pictures.During the Renaissance oil paints were also developed,which made colours look richer and deeper. Impre